Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-21
PRIvATIONS OF WAR.
IAROSHipS OF A FAMILY IN THE
WOODS OF LOUISIANA.

Home Life in a Deserted and Resource
less Country with Hardly Man Left
ia U-The Food Question = Serious
One.
We started out UPON the priyations Of
! he war just after a disastrous tire that
| swept AWAY all those arte hrllum accumu-
ldtiuns that proved of such inestimabIe
value to ali fortunate p,SsessnrS. 81 We
| did not even have the adNantag. Of a
gradual decline, but just bumped down
Suddenly. as il werr. from the soft bed uf
ease 10 the hard floor of discomfort.
Upon the fall uf New Orleans We ''r-fu-
geed' about nifty miles aisoNe the city on
the Jackson railroad as IL WAS then called.
! The country around IIS was very thuly
settled, the people generally poor. iguo-
] rant and primitive, and S--me,i as strange
! TO is rs We city folks" did Ia them Oh.
/ those strange, dark days Of war times. -
/ they linger yet in my memory like some
| weird, vivid dream. Part of the time my
I father was with Us and part Of IL i'll the
army, but his presence or absence made
( little real difference in our condition. lie
being a delicate city bred man was almost
as helpless in that beating storm - hard
ships and depriystions as my young, in
| experienced mother and her brood Of
! Young children. And as the years went
| by and the war cloud settled down darker
! and deeper all over the land. and times
grew harder and harder everywhere. if
| told all the hardshipS and struggles uf
! thuse days | fear some of i. would he
taken for Munchausen like e .aggerstion.
Ii wss a lonely, deserted, resourceleSs
country, with hardly a man left III II, and
how some Of those families Of women and
children managed Ia live at all is mys-
terry To me. | think We csme As near liv
ing ON nothing s> nioI tails ever did,
though my mother and Young sister Of
hers who lived with us h a their share IF
dhat hard and brave sta dggle for whsh
our southern women are 50 rightfully hon
ored throughout the length and breadth Of
the land Every article of beauty or
value that had escaped the fire WAS sold
or traded for the neCessaries Of life. One
of my brothers, n little fellow about |?
wears old. walked To Clinton, La. about
fifty miles | believe. carrying in his arms
a handsome guitar Of my mothers, which
was sold to all officer of the garrison
there who also bought from her n pair of
nuHr SIlstI pstoiS, htit
looms, which We children saw go with eX-
treme regret. as they were objects of our
lifelong awe and admiration, though We
grew accustomed Ia seeing many other oh
jeCts Of ,aiIe depart in the same way.
In fact, We sold everything that any one
could be induced To buy We had a large
tin bath tub, round, and painted green,
and we'll 10 do farmer having expressed
-. l,n,- far I.. h.. L..
boys were promptly dispatched with it,
and my aunt went along Ia make the bar
gain The presumptive purchaser lived
two or three miles distant. and the boys
rolled the tub there like hoop. Upon
closer inspection he decided that it would
not do for what he wanted, and SO they
had 10 roll il back again-a labor not ac-
complished without considerable loss of
temper and green paint
My mother and aunt grew very prof.
cien, in making palmetto hats, and sold
great many, my two little brothers carry
ing them To the nearest town, which was
ten miles distant | remember once when
lot of hats were ready they rose early
that morning and found the ground GOV
cred with snow-the only show / ever saw
in Louisiana they insisted upon
going. and siouldering their Tag Of hats
started out cheerfnlly ON their twenty
mile walk thinly clad and without shoes.
On their return that night they found
they had left their little dog in town, and
the next morning one of the boys went
back alone over the long, lonely road.
found the dog, and returned the same day.
Sheets, table cloths, window curtains
and bed spreads, all We're transformed
into clothing but there is al end 10 all
things. and the last resource | remember
in thai line WAS lot of usnaburg meal
bags obtained. no doubt, by some strenu
Gus exertions Of those same executive
abilities, which robed the entire crowd of
Us In garments designed in the cutting
with a view 10 our rapid growth and the
uncertainty Of future supply. Shoes We
never thought Of; my mother and aunt
made cloth shoes for themselves, or by
dint Of much bargaining occasionally got
pair made by some of the country
women, rough, coarse, leather shoes, but
very valuable in wet or cold weather.
Our feet were turned out to grow in unre-
strained freedom, regardless Of season or
weather. Only once did We get any
..bought shoes, :" and that WAS AT the time
of the evacuation of jackson. Miss. Ny
mother happened to be there at the time,
OH business, and SAW the streets strewn
with goods from the stores We had
some family negroes hired out in Jackson,
and they gave her some of The spoilS that
had fallen to them-pins, Needles. thread
and buttons, then objects Of priceless
value and also a reckless Assortment Of
shoes, with which, on her return. We were
proudly invested. 4 pair Of boys brogans,
about three sizes too large, fell TO my
share, and when my small feet were tuly
installed in their roomy quarters l w;ss
prouder of them than have ever been VI
a pair of shoes since.
But our hardest rubS We're not in the
matter Of clothes; We could, and certainly
did, do on very little clothing in that
climate: it was the eating that brought
the tug of war, and il would take a
volume to relate our experiences in that
line. Flour. sugar and coffee We never
saw; meat We had only about half the
time, and thought ourselves fortunate
when We had enough meal. There WAS
| only one mill within reach OF the COM
| munity, managed solely by q little, bent,
| shriyelei old woman, who looked like q
yeritable witch rs she sat knitting On q
narrow platform over the water, made by
| two or three boards loosely laid down.
| Fully half the time the mill was out of
| order or the water to0 low, or something
the matter. then thers would not be n
piece Of bread in the community, and We
| would have to live on bOiled or parchetl
| corn. and sometimes We did not have that
| sometimes We had nothing in the world
| but sweet potatoes. Often We did not
have A grain Of salt We children would
| ,af ANYTHING and everything that came in